Journal of Energy SecurityEnergy security journalhttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=44&layout=blog&Itemid=422
Sat, 25 May 2019 14:50:41 +0000Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Managementen-gbIraq's Oil Policehttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=454:iraqs-oil-police&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=454:iraqs-oil-police&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422Militarizing oil interests and assets is not something that oil companies openly attest or subscribe to based on their interests in maintaining their public, reputational value. However actions speak larger than words. The government of Ecuador has an interesting relationship with foreign oil companies as JES contributor Nicolai Due-Gundersen points out in his analysis of Iraq’s oil law and the potential inroads this law could provide to private military contractors (PMCs) in continuing their security activities in Iraq. In the meantime, Iraq has created an ‘oil police’ that Due-Gundersen maintains is the key to limiting the latitude of PMCs working in the Iraqi oil sector. ]]>rosner@iags.org (Nicolai Due-Gundersen )Issue ContentMon, 16 Sep 2013 05:00:00 +0000The Hydrocarbon Potential of the Republic of Cyprus and Nicosia’s Export Optionshttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=451:the-hydrocarbon-potential-of-the-republic-of-cyprus-and-nicosias-export-options&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=451:the-hydrocarbon-potential-of-the-republic-of-cyprus-and-nicosias-export-options&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422The Republic of Cyprus’ aspirations for a gas bonanza presently hang with pending developments of their Aphrodite natural gas field and the exploratory drilling that will take place there shortly. However the unknowns in the development path Cypriot gas will take to bring it ultimately to market appear as complex as the geopolitics of the region. Professor Theodoros Tsakiris deconstructs the landscape for us with a view towards grounding the reader with a solid understanding of what ultimately is at stake for Cyprus, the eastern Mediterranean and the European Union in building a more robust and secure energy supply infrastructure. ]]>rosner@iags.org (Dr. Theodoros Tsakiris)Issue ContentThu, 22 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000Eastern Mediterranean Gas in Focushttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=457:eastern-mediterranean-gas-in-focus&catid=136:from-the-editor&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=457:eastern-mediterranean-gas-in-focus&catid=136:from-the-editor&Itemid=422The issue of energy security is often cast with a rather narrow net inordinately focused on security of supply issues (with oil and gas typically at the forefront of this discussion). This bias is readily understood in practical terms. We understand simply and immediately an energy supply problem if we pull up to the gas pump and there is no product to put in the tank. So while supply security is admittedly an essential component of the energy security genre, a singular focus on this aspect alone skews a broader and more profound understanding of how energy, and particularly power, if denied, is part of the larger energy-security and for that matter human landscape.

Authors Michael Bruno and Graham Warwick in a recent article written for Aviation Week & Space Technology gave pause for reflection on just how broad and complex this landscape is when they wrote on the changing nature of how the United States conducts warfare. Here is a case in point that highlights how cyber and energy systems are intertwined in a way that has potential (and unintended) fallout for civilians if these systems are successfully targeted. Citing Adm. Philip Cullum, US Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics, for potential factors playing into energy security, the authors write that home bases have become involved directly in combat operations, with unmanned aircraft [drones] being controlled from the continental U.S. “Those bases are connected to the local grid, which now has a role to play in future warfare,” he says.

In fact there are at least 13 US bases involved in conducting what some call ‘telewar’ in addition to multiples of others presumably scattered around the world in places as far away as Afghanistan and previously Iraq. If the local grids play a role in future warfare then doesn’t that mean that local grids are part of the battle landscape that clever cyber-foes could target in order to bring down far away drone fleets or am I missing something here? This isn’t to say the US should not use this technology but that along with its deployment, new and unintended vulnerabilities are created, that make the energy landscape more complex for all concerned.

A quick glance at some of this edition’s contents tell us how thinkers and solution-providers are struggling to find robust, workable ways forward in confronting increasingly hybrid, complex energy problems in an increasingly interconnected world. Of note is Michael Hallett’s contribution “Islands in the Stream: The Compressed Natural Gas Grid as an Energy Security Enhancer.” Hallet seeks to address the major issue of grid vulnerabilities by proposing compressed natural gas (CNG) fired microgrids as a parallel grid system particularly for urban areas vulnerable to everything from a severe weather event to a cyber-attack; at the same time Hallett argues deployed CNG could also provide the backbone for a more diverse transportation fuels network. Who knows, maybe putting what Adm. Cullum describes as local grids supporting future warfare on Hallett’s CNG microgrid-plan is a workable energy security solution to what could become an onerous problem for the American public with a drone HQ just down the street? We stick with our look at transmission grids, and the challenges their operators face, with an interview with Mr. Terry Boston volunteer president of GO15 an association of the world's largest transmission grid operators.

The advent in the discovery of significant amounts of Eastern Mediterranean natural gas also prompted us to examine this East Med issue from its contentious and contested political, economic, social and even historical roots. Roaming from Turkey to Israel to Cyprus three contributors, Karbuz, Luft, and Tsakiris each offer their own unique perspective on where natural gas development, and the debate (or hype) surrounding bringing Eastern Med gas to market stands at present. And just to underscore this point, we are not armchair quarter-backing this discussion but the JES had bodies in the field from Tel Aviv to Istanbul to Nicosia in gathering material for reporting on this story. In closing, there is plenty more reading in this Summer 2013 issue of the Journal of Energy Security to keep you thinking (and the lights on) during the summer doldrums. Just as a heads up, our Fall edition (October 2013) will be focused on operational energy and how defense and security organizations around the world are seeking to do more with less. Contributors interested in adding to this discussion should contact me at editor@iags.org as soon as possible. Best regards, Kevin Rosner, Editor, Journal of Energy Security

]]>rosner@iags.org (Editor)From the EditorThu, 22 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000Ten years after the Northeast Blackout: How secure is our grid?http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=459:ten-years-after-the-northeast-blackout-how-secure-is-our-grid&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=459:ten-years-after-the-northeast-blackout-how-secure-is-our-grid&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422Ten years ago, every city between Detroit and Ottawa, including New York, turned dark in what became known as the Northeast blackout of 2003, the most severe power outage to ever occur in the industrialized world. What lessons were learned and what remains to be done?]]>anne@iags.org (Gal Luft)Issue ContentWed, 14 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000Islands in the Stream: The Compressed Natural Gas Grid as an Energy Security Enhancerhttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=442:islands-in-the-stream-the-compressed-natural-gas-grid-as-an-energy-security-enhancer&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=442:islands-in-the-stream-the-compressed-natural-gas-grid-as-an-energy-security-enhancer&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422Paradigm shifts in thinking and innovation may be brought about by design or disaster; remember the adage ‘disaster is the mother of invention.’ In this article, contributor Michael Hallett calls on us to re-examine the panoply of threats and challenges to national electricity grids (the paradigm) and to make a pro-active paradigm shift today before disaster happens. Specifically the paradigm shift Hallett asks the reader to consider is the utility of parallel compressed natural gas (CNG) networks-in a world increasingly awash in gas-for bolstering electricity supply security that concurrently could keep the lights on and provide fuel diversity in transportation markets.]]>rosner@iags.org (Michael Hallett)Issue ContentTue, 13 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000The Underbelly of Eastern Mediterranean Gashttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=445:the-under-belly-of-eastern-mediterranean-gas&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=445:the-under-belly-of-eastern-mediterranean-gas&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422There is truth to the rumor that there is natural gas under the sea in the eastern Mediterranean. How much gas that can be commercially exploited is another matter altogether. Aside from the confusion that eastern Med-gas hyperbole engenders, is the animosity it contributes to already fractious relations among nations in the region. Cooperation not confrontation is what is needed to create reliable long-term markets for what exploitable natural gas can provide to the citizens and nations of this region as Sohbet Karbuz argues in this succinct analysis of the eastern Med-gas debate.]]>rosner@iags.org (Sohbet Karbuz)Issue ContentTue, 13 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000Protecting Offshore Oil and Gas Installations: Security Threats and Countervailing Measureshttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=453:protecting-offshore-oil-and-gas-installations-security-threats-and-countervailing-measures&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=453:protecting-offshore-oil-and-gas-installations-security-threats-and-countervailing-measures&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422One of the least explored but increasingly important areas of critical energy infrastructure protection concerns offshore oil and gas installations. The threat environment encompasses potential attacks from terrorists and other disgruntled groups to sabotage carried out by employees of oil and gas companies themselves. Mikhail Kashubsky who is with the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies in Australia explores the threat environment for these installations in the first past of a three-part series for the Journal of Energy Security. ]]>rosner@iags.org (Dr Mikhail Kashubsky )Issue ContentTue, 13 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000Reliable and Sustainable Power Grids: Interview with Mr. Terry Bostonhttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=456:reliable-and-sustainable-power-grids-interview-with-mr-terry-boston&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=456:reliable-and-sustainable-power-grids-interview-with-mr-terry-boston&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422Providing safe and reliable electricity while incorporating generated power from renewable and sustainable resources is a major challenge for the world’s transmission operators. Recently the JES had an opportunity to exchange some questions and answers with Mr. Terry Boston, president of GO15, an association representing 70% of delivered power worldwide. Mr. Boston, during his day-job, has been CEO of PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization that controls the movement of wholesale electricity in all or part of 13 US states in addition to the District of Columbia, for the past four years. He is a US vice president of the International Council of Large Electric Systems and vice president of the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions. ]]>rosner@iags.org (Editor)Issue ContentTue, 13 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000Book Review: Shale Gas: The Promise and the Peril http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=458:book-review-shale-gas-the-promise-and-the-peril-&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=458:book-review-shale-gas-the-promise-and-the-peril-&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422Vikram Rao’s Shale Gas: the Promise and the Peril provides a critical overview about the role of the United States’ vast shale gas resources in America’s overall energy mix. Rao concisely forges an ambitious, comprehensive analysis on what shale gas exploitation means for environmental stewardship, transportation, national security, jobs, and America’s geopolitical standing. Mark Donig reviews this recent and important book.]]>anne@iags.org (Mark Donig)Issue ContentTue, 13 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000Israel's Zero Gas Gamehttp://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=455:israels-zero-gas-game&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422
http://ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=455:israels-zero-gas-game&catid=137:issue-content&Itemid=422Like a horse race, the thoroughbred first out of the gate isn’t necessarily the first to cross the finish line. So it goes with the Israeli government’s treatment in the development of its Eastern Mediterranean natural gas fields that have turned a thoroughbred into a nag. The government has vacillated on issues such as how much of Israeli reserves can be exported, and how much to tax developed product so much so that it has dried up inward forward investment in what could be a potential game changer for resource import-dependent Israel. It’s anyone’s guess where things are headed but what’s at stake for Israel, foreign investors, and those who pine for new sources of natural gas in Europe and beyond are covered in the following article. ]]>rosner@iags.org (Gal Luft)Issue ContentTue, 06 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000